/ˈtoːtə ˈhoːzə/ lit. ‘dead trousers’
German idiom, colloquial. Something is so boring it wears you out.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Tote Hose
?
Colloquial, used with “sein”: “Hier ist tote Hose”, “Die Party war tote Hose”. It describes a place, event or evening where nothing is happening, the opposite of “da steppt der Bär”. It also has a second, cheeky meaning (impotence), which is where the trousers come in, so it’s best kept to casual talk.
Also said hier ist tote Hose
Tote Hose
in real sentences
-
Die Party war tote Hose.
The party was lame.
Tatoeba, sentence by dilmen, translation by althead, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Auf der Straße war tote Hose.
The street was dead.
Tatoeba, sentence by brauchinet, translation by sundown, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Tote Hose
come from?
English Wiktionary records two colloquial meanings: a place with nothing going on, and impotence. The sexual sense, with nothing stirring in the trousers, is generally taken as the source of the “dull” one, but no dictionary dates either sense.
Mistakes learners make with Tote Hose
Adding an article: it’s “hier ist tote Hose”, not “hier ist eine tote Hose”. And it’s about a dull place or event, so you can’t use it for a boring book or a boring person.
Other German idioms like Tote Hose
Spot a mistake in Tote Hose
?
Send a correction, or a sentence you’d actually say with it. Everything is read before anything on this page changes.